HARD | A WDW STORY

~prologue~

PLEASE READ AUTHORS NOTE AT END

August 25th, 2016

"Delilah, just trust me on this one," Charlie (Puth) said, leaning back on the couch of the tour bus.

"No Charlie, I'm not letting you set me up. I want love to come naturally. Nothing forced. Not again." I tossed my phone down on the couch next to me as I sat down dramatically.

Charlie leaned forward and through both hands in the air, "But I'm barely even setting you up! He's my friend and he's been following you for a while on social media and is really interested in meeting you. Please, just trust me."

"What if something happens? You won't be here to save me."

"Hey, I'm only One Call Away-"

"Oh my god Charlie, just stop right there. Fine, I'll go, but I can't guarantee it'll go well."

~~~

"Ok, you'll have the tour bus to yourselves. 3 hours. You guys can eat, hang out, do whatever." Charlie explained while I hung upside down on the couch dramatically.

"3 hours is so longggg-"

"Go into this with an open mind."

"Fine." Suddenly, there was a knock on the tour bus door, so I quickly turned right side up and repositioned my hair.

Charlie opened the door. I heard them greeting but decided not to peek at who it was.

"Alright guys, have fun," Charlie shut the tour bus door behind him, leaving me alone with the boy.

"Hey, Delilah, it's so great to finally meet you."

The boy slowly brought himself into my view, but as soon as I heard his voice, I knew exactly who it was. "Shawn Mendes?"

"In the flesh."

"Out of all people, why did you want to meet me?" He sat down across from me on the couch, leaning his elbows on the table that separated us.

Looking down and playing with his thumbs, he said, "Because I think you're beautiful and amazing..." His face began to turn a slight pinkish color, "I was gushing about how great you are to Charlie, and I didn't even know you two were friends. He said he'd try to set up a date for us... looks like he did." Shawn looked up from his hands and glanced around at the setting Charlie had created. There was a white table cloth on the bus table, two meals with a covering, a candle in the center, and soft pop music playing in the background.

I scooted to the edge of my seat to engage with him more, and said, "I can't believe you wanted to meet me. I've honestly been a fan of you since you released Stitches... I was 13 when you released that."

"So you must be 16 right now. I'm-"

"18," I cut him off. "Yeah, I know. Trust me, I'm a big fan."

"So where are you from?"

"Well I'm from Maine, but now I live in New York. But I think I'm going to go live out in LA with Charlie for a while."

"And you're a music producer? Aren't you still in high school?"

"I do online school now because... of circumstances... and kind of, I work in the studio and help produce the songs, but I don't handle the business side. "

"Interesting. How'd you get into this at such a young age?"

"I met Charlie at a special music seminar and I told him my story and he invited me to join him on tour."

"Wow. That's amazing."

He looked down at the meals covered in front of us both, and said, "Why don't we eat?"

"Why don't we?" I said, raising an eyebrow.

~~Time skip - Done with Dinner~~

Suddenly on the playlist, Stitches began to play.

"Oh wow, haha, what are the odds," I said, giggling and looking down at my feet. I hummed along softly to the melody, which earned an interested look from Shawn.

"Can I hear you sing?" He asked, giving me a wide grin.

I can sing, but not entirely well in my opinion. But THE Shawn Mendes wants ME to sing? "I'm not sure... I really only work in the studio, not really a front-line kind of girl..."

"Don't you help record back-tracks though?"

"Yeah... ok whatever, I'll sing."

I was about to sing the first note, when Shawn got up from his seat and paused the speaker. I gave him a confused look, until I noticed him grabbing one of Charlie's acoustic guitars. He rushed to sit down next to me, quickly strummed a few chords, then said, "Ready?"

"Sure," I looked down at my feet, my face probably turning a deep red, "here we go."

"I thought that I've been hurt before...."

~~Time Skip - after the song, curled up on the couch watching La La Land on the TV~~

I nestled my head more onto Shawn's chest as his arm pulled me tighter against him protectively.

He suddenly squeezed my shoulder, causing me to jump from his arms. "Are you okay? Did I do something wrong?"

I shook off my clothes, and lightly hovered my hand over my shoulder, closing my eyes, a tear slipping out onto my cheek. "Sorry, Shawn. It's just... bad memories, if you know what I mean...."

"Did something happen? You don't have to tell me, it would just help me steer away from anything sensitive with you. I don't want to hurt you-"

"It's just an ex-boyfriend. I wasn't treated the best. He was two years older than me too- in high school- it wasn't the best situation. I would try to leave him when we would hang out and he'd grab me by the shoulder and squeeze it tight, telling me I can't. He did some other stuff too. I was just stuck in that place for a really long time. I don't want to relive it."

"How long ago was this?"

"Almost a year ago." I leaned back onto Shawns arm. He was hesitant to place it back around me.

"Ohh, so that's why you do online school..."

"Yeah... I'm fine with you touching me, Shawn, it was just a sensitive moment. I have so much fear that I'll relive that..."

"I promise you, I will never hurt you the way he did."

"Thank you," I whispered, taking his arm and placing it around me completely again as I fell back into his chest.

After a few minutes passed, I whispered, "Shawn?"

"Yes, Delilah?" His voice, slightly husky, whispered back. 

"You know, I wasn't too excited for this date. But it was honestly pretty magical..."

"Delilah?"

"Yeah?"

"Will you be my girlfriend?"

A/N: I'm well aware this is a Why Don't We book... but we gotta have some drama in here and I LOVE Shawn. I need all your help. Which one of the Why Don't We boys should Delilah fall for? Comment!